BP Share News (BP.)

(Updates with further quotes) By Laurence Norman Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES TORONTO (Dow Jones)--U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron completed his first major international conference Sunday claiming support for his government's austerity agenda and calling for a new approach to global trade talks. In a press conference at the end of the Toronto summit of the Group of 20 developed and developing countries, Cameron claimed the group's call for countries with fiscal challenges to accelerate deficit reduction provided "great backing for what Britain is doing." He said Britain's austerity plans, which aim to cut spending and increase taxes by GBP113 billion over the next five years, aren't in contrast to action being taken elsewhere but are part of a global compact where deficits are tackled by deeply indebted countries while surplus countries act to boost demand. "I think it's a mistake to think that somehow this summit has been about a different approach between the Americans and the Europeans, the whole point of this summit is that we need to do things in a coordinated way across the world to maximize growth," Cameron said. He said for Britain, "consolidation is not an alternative to growth it is actually the basis of getting the confidence that will make that growth sustainable." Cameron said the G-20 target of halving deficits by 2013 would prove useful in holding governments to account so that "people can hold our feet to the fire in terms of sorting out our fiscal situation." Cameron also said the world needs to adopt a new approach to the international trade agenda, saying it was plain that current efforts on completing the stalled Doha round of trade talks were failing. "We're stuck.. This isn't progressing and it doesn't look like it is going to progress unless we do something different," he said. "Making progress is hugely in our interests." In recent days, Cameron has urged countries to push hard on regional and bilateral trade deals even in the absence of progress on Doha. At the press conference, Cameron was asked about the BP PLC (BP) oil spill in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. He reiterated that it is in everyone's interests that BP is "strong and stable for the future." He said, however, that it is clear BP will "have to pay out a huge sum of money." -By Laurence Norman, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-207-842-9270; laurence.norman@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 27, 2010 19:49 ET (23:49 GMT)